000			03600nam a22003497a 4500
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028			_bPhone: +255 28 298 3384
028			_b Fax: +255 28 298 3386
028			_bEmail: vc@bugando.ac.tz
028			_bWebsite: www.bugando.ac.tz
040			_bEnglish _cDLC
041			_aEnglish
100			_aDismas Matovelo _922780
245			_aWhy don’t illiterate women in rural, Northern Tanzania, access maternal healthcare?
260			_aMwanza, Tanzania: _bBioMed Central _bCatholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS – Bugando] _c 28 June 2021
300			_a Pages 1-11
490			_vBMC pregnancy and childbirth Volume 21 Issue 1
520			_aAbstract: Background: In 2017, roughly 540 women in Sub-Saharan Africa died every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. To stem this public-health crisis, the WHO recommends a standard continuity of maternal healthcare, yet most women do not receive this care. Surveys suggest that illiteracy limits the uptake of the recommended care, yet little is understood about why this is so. This gap in understanding why healthcare is not sought by illiterate women compromises the ability of public health experts and healthcare providers to provide culturally relevant policy and practice. This study consequently explores the lived experiences related to care-seeking by illiterate women of reproductive age in rural Tanzania to determine why they may not access maternal healthcare services. Methods: An exploratory, qualitative study was conducted in four communities encompassing eight focus group discussions with 81 illiterate women, 13 in-depth interviews with illiterate women and seven key-informant interviews with members of these communities who have first-hand experience with the decisions made by women concerning maternal care. Interviews were conducted in the informant’s native language. The interviews were coded, then triangulated. Results: Two themes emerged from the analysis: 1) a communication gap arising from a) the women’s inability to read public-health documents provided by health facilities, and b) healthcare providers speaking a language, Swahili, that these women do not understand, and 2) a dependency by these women on family and neighbors to negotiate these barriers. Notably, these women understood of the potential benefits of maternal healthcare. Conclusions: These women knew they should receive maternal healthcare but could neither read the public-health messaging provided by the clinics nor understand the language of the healthcare providers. More health needs of this group could be met by developing a protocol for healthcare providers to determine who is illiterate, providing translation services for those unable to speak Swahili, and graphic public health messaging that does not require literacy. A failure to address the needs of this at-risk group will likely mean that they will continue to experience barriers to obtaining maternal care with detrimental health outcomes for both mothers and newborns.
700			_a Pendo Ndaki _923134
700			_aVictoria Yohani _923171
700			_aRose Laisser _922811
700			_aRespicious Bakalemwa _922767
700			_a Magdalena Mwaikambo _946094
700			_aZabron Masatu _946095
700			_a Edgar Ndaboine _919605
700			_a Jennifer L Brenner _946096
700			_a Warren M Wilson _923160
856			_uhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-021-03906-2
942			_2ddc _cVM
999			_c19753 _d19753